eat style oughout enturies - Copenhagen Tourist

Copenhagen
The Little Mermaid
An enduring symbol of love
A controversial mermaid, her ‘ugly sister’ and a starshaped
seventeenth-century citadel draw visitors
and locals to Copenhagen’s harbour promenade
For almost a century, the Little Mermaid statue, the embodiment of
hans Christian andersen’s fairytale, has perched on her stone by
Langelinje, the Copenhagen harbour promenade. here the Little
Mermaid cuts a tragic figure, suffering for her dream prince. Small
wonder that she has often been the victim of rebellion and
controversy.
46 cph-tourist.dk
Radical feminists have painted her over. She’s been beheaded by
maverick artists (twice!) and there’s even been an attempt to blow
her up with explosives. But whatever emotions the Little Mermaid
stirs, she is undeniably an enduring and universal symbol of love.
She once again made headlines worldwide when she was flown to
Shanghai to be the centrepiece of the Danish pavilion at the
2010 eXpo. The Little Mermaid statue, from 1913, was created by
Danish sculptor edward eriksen (1876-1959), who used his wife eline
as a model.
The ‘ugly sisTeR’ AnD The gefion myTh
every fairytale has an ‘ugly sister’, and five minutes walk toward the
cruise ships brings you to a genetically tweaked mermaid with
iconoclastic reference to edward eriksen’s Little Mermaid. artist Bjørn
nørgaard’s tongue-in-cheek artwork is part of a sculpture group
entitled The Genetically Modified Paradise, originally exhibited at
the 2000 eXpo in hannover, germany. In the opposite direction,
towards Esplanaden, you find a thundering fountain depicting a
scene from norse mythology in which the goddess Gefion drives her
plough through the waters of Lake Vänern to create the island of
Zealand, having first turned her four sons into oxen, who perish from
exhaustion following their daunting feat.
The CiTADel
Close by is the entrance to Kastellet – one of the best-preserved
seventeenth-century fortifications in northern europe. Shaped as a
star pentagram, the citadel still houses military offices and has its
own historic church. When first constructed, the citadel was the only
part of the city’s defence where sea-directed cannons could also be
turned towards the city itself – in case of rebellion from within.
Today the leafy citadel is open to the public for romantic strolls and
picnics, and features open-air entertainment during the warmer months.
look ouT foR...
Langelinje Pavilion designed by eva and niels Koppel in 1958.
The famous ‘artichoke’ lamps by poul henningsen (ph) were
purpose-designed for this pavilion.
www.langelinie.dk
The historic Citadel windmill situated on one of the bastions.